Cincinnati Bengals helped Joe Burrow significantly this offseason

After Joe Burrow was injured near the end of his rookie campaign, the Cincinnati Bengals received a lot of criticism for how poorly their offensive line played. While the team decided to pass on Penei Sewell in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Bengals were still considered to be a team that did the most to help their quarterback, at least according to Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports.

DeArdo wrote:

"Playing behind a woeful offensive line, Joe Burrow was hit far too often during his rookie season. His rookie year prematurely ended when he tore his ACL in Week 11. Burrow showed that he was worthy of being the No. 1 pick prior to getting injured, as he was the NFL’s passing leader through 10 starts. The Bengals addressed their offensive line by signing veteran free agent Riley Reiff. They also spent a second-round pick on Clemson tackle Jackson Carman and a fourth-round pick on East Carolina tackle D’Ante Smith. The Bengals strengthened an already solid receiving corps when they selected Burrow’s former college teammate, LSU wideout Ja’Marr Chase, with the fifth overall pick. Given these transactions and what he showed in 2020, Burrow should be one of the league’s most prolific passers in 2021."

While the Bengals are still getting heat for taking Ja’Marr Chase over Sewell, it’s not like they didn’t add help along their o-line, so it’s nice to see them get recognition for it. Signing Riley Reiff was an underrated move and Reiff could very well end up as the team’s MVP when the season is all said and done.

Draft-wise, the Bengals added help in the second, fourth, and sixth rounds in the form of Jackson Carman, D’Ante Smith, and Trey Hill. Carman likely will find his way into the starting lineup as a rookie while Smith and Hill will add depth pieces should injuries occur.

The Cincinnati Bengals did what they could to help Joe Burrow this offseason.

The Bengals obviously made sure to give Burrow a stacked wide receiver unit with the addition of Chase No. 5 overall and did so despite not really needing to upgrade the position. They had Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins as their starting two receivers and had they rolled with those two, Auden Tate would have been the No. 3 receiver for Cincy, so their situation wouldn’t have been bad by any means.

Burrow is set up to succeed this year and while the offensive line is still going to be a concern until they prove they can play better, the Bengals made sure to help their quarterback heading into his sophomore season.

Teams can only go as their quarterback can take them and the Bengals have set theirs up to succeed in a big way. Hopefully, we see major improvements from Cincinnati this year.